Notice of Availability of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and Potential Amendment to the Approved Resource Management Plan for the Buffalo Field Office, Wyoming, 53170-53171 [2019-21646]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 193 (Friday, October 4, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53170-53171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21646]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[L13200000 DS0000 LXSSK1700000 20X LLWYP07000]


Notice of Availability of the Final Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement and Potential Amendment to the Approved Resource 
Management Plan for the Buffalo Field Office, Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wyoming prepared 
this Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
2015 Buffalo Field Office Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP). This 
effort is in response to a United States District Court of Montana 
opinion and order (Western Organization of Resource Councils, et al. v. 
BLM; 3/26/2018 and 7/31/2018). By this notice, the BLM is announcing 
the opening of the protest period.

DATES: To ensure that a protest will be considered, the BLM must 
receive protests on the Final Supplemental EIS by November 4, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final Supplemental EIS are available at the 
Buffalo Field Office at 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, Wyoming 82834, and 
online at https://go.usa.gov/xP6S3.
    All protests on the Final Supplemental EIS must be submitted in 
writing by any of the following methods:
     Website: https://go.usa.gov/xP6S3.
     Regular Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Protest 
Coordinator, P.O. Box 71383, Washington, DC 20024-1383.
     Overnight Delivery: BLM Director (210), Attention: Protest 
Coordinator, 20 M Street SE, Room 2134LM, Washington, DC 20003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas (Tom) Bills, RMP Supplemental 
EIS Project Manager; telephone: 307-

[[Page 53171]]

684-1133; email: [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-
877-8339 to contact Mr. Bills during normal business hours. The FRS is 
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or 
question. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 2015 Buffalo Field Office Approved RMP 
provides a single, comprehensive land use plan that guides management 
of BLM-administered lands and minerals in the Buffalo Field Office, 
which include approximately 800,000 acres of BLM surface land and 4.7 
million acres of BLM mineral estate in Campbell, Johnson, and Sheridan 
counties in north-central Wyoming.
    Based on the above-referenced court decision, feedback from 
cooperating agencies and stakeholders, and public scoping, the BLM 
developed and analyzed a No Action Alternative and an Action 
Alternative, which are detailed in the Final Supplemental EIS. The 
alternatives focus solely on the allocation of lands open for leasing 
BLM-administered coal, in response to the court order.
    The No Action Alternative represents the decision area from the 
2015 RMP and brings forward all management decisions that precluded 
coal development in the 2015 RMP. It relies on the decisions from the 
2001 coal-screening process that informed the 2015 RMP, but uses an 
updated 2018 coal production baseline. The BLM also used the 2019 U.S. 
Energy Information Administration development forecast to project 
development in the Buffalo Field Office over the 20-year planning 
period. The No Action Alternative makes available 686,896 acres for 
consideration of coal leasing, which includes approximately 73.66 
billion tons of BLM-administered coal reserves.
    The Action Alternative also uses the 2018 coal production baseline 
and the 2019 U.S. Energy Information Administration development 
forecast. In addition, the Action Alternative applies new coal screens 
(as described in 43 CFR 3420.1-4(e)), considers new scientific and GIS 
data, and evaluates issues identified through internal and public 
scoping. Based on these factors, the Action Alternative area makes 
available 455,467 acres for consideration of coal leasing, which 
includes approximately 52.24 billion tons of BLM-administered coal 
reserves.
    The Proposed Plan is a modification of the Action Alternative that 
would make 495,251 acres of Federal coal available for consideration 
for leasing. This area includes all the acreage identified as available 
under the Action Alternative, as well as 40,847 additional acres that 
were included under the No Action Alternative. The BLM made this 
recommendation as a result of public, stakeholder, and cooperating 
agency input on the Draft Supplemental EIS as well as updated best-
available information and special expertise provided by cooperating 
agencies and the public.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, the BLM cannot guarantee that it will 
be able to do so.

(Authority: 43 CFR 1610.2(c), 40 CFR 1506.6)

Duane W. Spencer,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-21646 Filed 10-3-19; 8:45 am]
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